"So? What does gold feel like?" Whitehall asked as he lay on the thin mattress in his and Sadi's room.

  They had returned to the cave after Sadi absorbed Sunda's remnant. Their master was emotionless when she stepped out of the Menhua tree as a lowgold. He dismissed the three of them, including Zeal, saying he would take the rest of the day to give Sunda a proper burial.

  Whitehall saw The Beast King carving a hole into the thick trunk of the Menhua Tree. He wanted to watch further, but Zeal told them they should go. Their training would continue the next day.

  "I don't feel much difference," Sadi yawned. Her eyes were still puffy from her crying earlier. "Cycling is easier but only a little. I'm unsure if that was from my advancement to Jade or lowgold."

  "Meh," chirped Meatball. "Lowgold and Jade are basically the same besides a gold sign."

  Sadi was still down, and Whitehall struggled to think what to say to make her feel better.

  "Do you want to talk about it?" he finally asked. "What happened during Sunda's last moments." He placed a hand gently on her shoulder and felt her shiver.

  "No," Sadi replied and shook her head. "I don't even know what truly happened."

  "How many times do I need to tell you two that Mom is not dead," Meatball whined.

  Whitehall ignored the bird and gave Sadi a soft smile. "Whenever you're ready. I'll be here to listen."

  "Uhh," groaned Meatball. "Whatever."

  They had asked Meatball what he meant earlier, but his answer was what they expected. Sunda had told her offspring that she could never die, and they believed her. Whitehall disagreed with the lie, but he was not one to tell others how to parent their children.

  "Thanks," Sadi replied softly, giving him a small smile of her own. She yawned, "I think I need some sleep."

  "Me too," Meatball also yawned. She perched on the ceiling, digging her talons into the stone. She hung upside down and began closing her eyes. "What?" She opened one eye and gazed at Whitehall and Sadi below, who were staring at her.

  "Umm," Whitehall muttered. "We didn't know garudas sleep that way."

  "We can sleep in many different ways," the bird replied. "Now, shhh, I need my beauty sleep." She closed her eyes again.

  Whitehall and Sadi turned to look at each other and shrugged.

  The following day, Zeal came by and told them that the Beast King was waiting for them outside the cave. They found him sitting on a large log, playing with his handpan. His eyes were closed in concentration as he played the tune. The three disciples stood silently. Whitehall closed his eyes, enjoying the soft melody.

  The music stopped, and Whitehall opened his eyes. The Beast King had a broad smile as he stared at them. Gone was the solemn look he carried the entirety of the previous day. "Look at you two, how far you have advanced in eight months."

  Whitehall looked around. Ziel was gone.

  "Don't worry about him," The Beast King waved. "He likes to wander around, and he'll be fine."

  "And you, master?" Sadi asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

  The Beast King wiped an imaginary tear from his eyes and smiled. "The disciple caring for the master. I am glad I managed to pass that on to you two." He clapped his hands, causing his disciples to wince. "Anyways, enough about me; I've said my goodbyes to my late master already. Let's talk about you two. Or three, should I say." His eyes glanced up toward a branch where a black garuda was eating an earthworm.

  Meatball swallowed the worm in his claws whole before flying down to perch on Whitehall's shoulders. "Hello, Beast King," the bird greeted the Herald. "Are you going to teach him how to form a contract, or should I?" the bird tapped Whitehall's shoulders.

  "In time, little one," The Beast King replied. "But first, I must pay attention to my new lowgold," he exclaimed, turning his attention to Sadi. "Show me what you can do." He stretched out his arms, leaving his bare chest unguarded.

  Without another word, Sadi blasted a ray of light into her master's eyes. The pillar of light was golden. She held it for as long as she could, but her madra was quickly running out.

  "Cycle and continue absorbing the surrounding light aura. Replenish your madra as you go," The Beast King ordered, eyes wide and unbothered by the intense light.

  Sadi concentrated on absorbing the light aura. It was easier than she thought it would be; her skin helped her absorb it. However, she used more madra than she could replenish, and her light rays dimmed.

  "Your Solarshroud iron body is truly a marvel," The Beast King commented when Sadi's attack stopped. "It will only continue to get better as you advance. Who needs a large core when you can continuously replenish your madra," The Beast King laughed.

  Sadi breathed heavily from running out of madra, but she could feel her core quickly replenishing the lost madra. She understood now the benefits of her iron body and her path.

  "I see you're beginning to realize your potential," the Beast King smiled. "Tell me."

  "My Solarshroud iron body will steadily replenish my madra from the surrounding light aura. My path and cycling technique will allow me to continue to do so... in the dark," she said the last few words after a pause. She took a moment to think.

  The Beast King's smile widened. "Go on," he urged.

  "You mentioned that I would not need a large core. But would I not have enough madra to do a more powerful technique?" she asked.

  "Ahh, that would be correct," The Beast King smirked.

  Based on her master's expression, Sadi reckoned that she had missed something, and he was waiting for her to continue.

  "But?" she finally asked, unable to figure it out herself.

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  The Beast King chuckled. "But your iron body does not simply help you absorb light aura. It stores light madra, too."

  Sadi's eyes widened, and she looked down at the skin of her arms. Her skin now had a yellowish hue when it was previously pale. She grimaced slightly at an uncouth thought.

  "None of that," the Beast King continued. "Heck, you don't see Sunda featherless, do you?" he said sarcastically.

  She let out a sigh of relief at the explanation. She was not fond of the thought of going out to battle naked. Besides, being fully clothed was not a problem either, she realized. Her skin would absorb the invisible light beneath her clothes.

  Sadi pressed her fists together and bowed. "Thank you, master. This one is grateful for the iron body and guidance."

  "My master," The Beast King stated softly. "She is the one that made your iron body. You're the first and currently only person that has it."

  Sadi bowed deeper. "Then I will strive to train harder and not bring shame to her legacy."

  The Beast King grinned. "And you will. I will make sure of that." He stood up from the log he had been sitting on and made his way closer to Sadi.

  "Your attempt to blind my eyes was better than your previous light arrows," he praised. "However, you need to think bigger." He gestured an explosion with his hands.

  "What do you mean, master?" Sadi asked, unsure what thinking bigger would be like.

  The Beast King sighed. "That's partly my fault for not teaching you any offensive techniques. But I could not teach you any useful ones either," he shrugged. "I'm not on a light path."

  He placed a hand on her shoulder. "But Sunda has told me how I may help you develop your own."

  Sadi looked up at The Beast King earnestly.

  "Her words, not mine," he said, attempting to avoid any blame for the vagueness of his following words. "You can control and manipulate both visible and invisible light aura. Find a way to make it a weapon. Observe and change."

  Sadi's thoughts whirled at her master's words. "Eh?" Sadi let out a confused sound after a long while.

  "I had the same reaction," The Beast King chuckled. "She said you'll figure it out." He turned his attention to his other apprentice, who was silently arguing with his future contracted partner. "Now, to my other disciple," the Beast King declared.

  Whitehall and Meatball's mouths immediately clamped shut.

  "It's time to form your contract," the Beast King continued.

  "Took you long enough," Meatball jibed. "We were about to do it if you took any longer."

  The Beast King was not offended; he found it amusing and slightly cute.

  "No, we weren't," Whitehall muttered to the bird. He pressed his fists and bowed. "We await your guidance, master."

  The Beast King shrugged, "Might as well do it now, I guess. Should not take too long."

  "Will I be gold, master?" Whitehall asked, his eyes filled with expectations.

  His master shook his head. "Nope. Meatball here is still a Jade. You both will need to advance together."

  Whitehall scowled at Meatball. "You said you were gold."

  "No, I didn't," Meatball retorted. "I just allowed you to assume so."

  "Uhh, whatever," Whitehall rolled his eyes.

  The Beast King smiled at the argument between his disciple and the bird. It reminded him of his old memories with the other sacred beasts when he was younger.

  "We are ready, master," Whitehall bowed.

  "Yeap," The Beast King clapped his hands, causing his disciples and the bird to wince. "It's a simple technique. Swear to share your cores and accept each others' powers."

  Meatball was visibly shaking with excitement. "Let's do it!" she chirped loudly, biting Whitehall's ear.

  "Ow!" Whitehall yelped at the sudden pain. Before he could ask why Meatball bit him or why she was so excited to establish a bond finally, he felt her madra probing his channels. Asking for permission to enter. Whitehall did not hesitate. There was nothing to hesitate to. Sunda was a creature of legends from his previous life. A symbol of his people's struggles. And Meatball was her offspring. "Let's do it!" he yelled.

  A stream of venom madra flowed out of his core, sucked away into Meatball. His body's strength faded, and he fell onto a knee. His core was rapidly emptying. Meatball's madra replaced the madra he had lost, and his core drank it. Their madra types were similar, so his body should not have had any issues assimilating them. But his channels burned. He tried to control the cycle of the madra, letting it flow slowly through his millions of madra channels.

  "Cycle it like how you advanced to Jade!" The Beast King shouted. "Don't fight it."

  The Beast King's words shook him. And Whitehall let the control he was maintaining go. The venom raged into him like a river when a dam was opened. His legs felt weak, and he fell to the ground flat on his belly. Looking to the side, he saw Meatball lying on the ground next to him. There was no pain, however; it was just weakness.

  "At ta tat ta," the Beast King stretched a hand to block Sadi from helping the fallen disciple and the sacred beast. "I wouldn't get any closer if I were you. Their poison would eat you alive."

  "But shouldn't we do something?" Sadi protested, pointing at Whitehall's foaming mouth.

  The Beast King controlled the wind aura, preventing the poison madra they released from approaching Sadi. "They'll be fine," he reassured her. "Their bond is complete and strong. The foreign venom is just eating through their strength as their bodies acclimate. They'll be fine after a while."

  Sadi gulped and nodded.

  "Anyways," he pointed his thumb backwards towards a tree. "Your pack is behind there. I've left you with things to help you with your next tasks."

  By that, he meant taking all the valuables and leaving them with the bare essentials from the things they have stolen from Heaven's glory, Sadi was sure.

  "Your knives are in there," he continued. "I think you've earned it."

  Sadi's eyes went wide. She had never seen her brother's karambits since her master had taken it from her. "Thank you," she said.

  The Beast King shrugged, "I wouldn't know how you'll use it without interfering with your gold signs, but I reckon you'll figure it out." He looked down at Whitehall and Meatball, checking their state.

  "What is our next task, master?" Sadi asked, returning from behind a tree with a small pack that Whitehall had carried when they left Sacred Valley. A thousand-mile cloud drifted behind her.

  "You'll help him advance," The Beast King pointed to the child on the ground. "He may be a Jade, but his lifeline is still short. Whatever he had done that ate away at his lifeline only worsened when he reset his advancement," he explained.

  Sadi's nails dug into her palms. "I'll get him to advance, whatever it takes."

  The Beast King looked surprised by her words. He nodded. "You understand then. That's good. Too many humans think that walking their path alone is the way to power. But we are beasts." He grabbed a twig from the ground and snapped it between his fingers. " Alone, we are weak. " Using wind aura, he summoned a bundle of twigs into his palms and attempted to snap them as previously. The bundle held. "Together, we are strong ."

  Sadi nodded. She had rejected Whitehall's plan to save Sacred Valley on her own. The heavenly messenger had told the Unsouled to find the Sword Sage's disciple. She was not foolish—not like her brother. She stared longly at Whitehall, her will hardened.

  "What do we need to do?" she asked.

  The Beast King grinned, revealing white pearly canines. "Advance to the peak of gold is simple. You need raw power. Lots and lots of it."

  "Cycling room, then," Sadi summarized.

  "No," the Beast King had not stopped grinning. "That's too slow. I'll need both of you to be lowgold within five months. And no further than lowgold."

  "Why not?" Sadi asked, confused.

  "You'll break open Sunda's remaining remnant in time. It is your elixir to Highgold and maybe even Truegold. Your iron body is already slowly helping you gain madra every second. But Whitehall here does not have that luxury. Unless you wish to leave him behind, of course."

  His words raised a question in her mind: "What was Sunda's advancement? To be able to push me to Truegold?"

  The Beast King's grin softened into a fond smile. "Herald."

  Sadi's mouth gaped at The Beast King's answer. "That doesn't make sense. How could-."

  "Like I said earlier," The Beast King cut in. "Alone, we are weak."

  Sadi gulped. It had been done before. She remembered in Heaven's Glory how a bunch of Jade Elders managed to kill the Sword Sage. And the rumours of how Whitehall was at the centre of it. "It feels like there is something bigger than is happening. Sunda told me-"

  "No," The Beast King raised a hand to stop Sadi, his expression severe. "Whatever she said to you is only for you. I do not wish to know."

  Sadi stayed quiet and nodded. Her experience with Sunda had not left her mind- it felt out of place.

  "You'll be entering dragon territory," The Beast King's grin returned. "Dragons kill each other as much as they kill others. You'll scavenge the treasures left behind. And I repeat, scavenge. You both are not advanced enough for battles. Whitehall, especially, has a body like a water balloon, and his madra will run dry from a single cut if it is not tended to quickly. You both may be able to handle a fight here and there. But remember, you are currently a crow. You feast on others' leftovers. Only when you both advance further will you be strong enough to hunt. Understood?"

  Sadi nodded. "I understand, master."

  Elder Empire

  Iteration requested. Asylum

  Date? Request Rejected

  Report Complete

  "Everything alright, love?" Tseria asked softly, her hand gently covering Malin's. Her touch was warm, a comforting contrast to the cold unease that had settled in his chest.

  "Hm?" Malin looked up from the maps and charts scattered across his desk in the cabin. The dim light of the lantern flickered, casting shadows on his troubled face. "Yes, of course. What made you ask?"

  Tseria tilted her head, her dark eyes studying him with a mix of concern and curiosity. "Well," she began, her voice gentle but probing, "your hands have been trembling, even in this heat. You've seemed... distant ever since we left that island. And now, when we're so close to seeing your mother again, you don't even look excited."

  Malin hesitated, his gaze dropping to the desk. He could feel the weight of the black pendant hanging beneath his shirt, its presence a constant reminder of the burden he now carried. "I'm just nervous, that's all," he said, forcing a sheepish smile. He pressed a hand to his chest, the cool metal of the pendant pressing against his skin. "It's been so long. I want everything to be perfect."

  Tseria's expression softened, but her eyes still held a hint of doubt. She knew him too well to be entirely convinced. "Nervous about seeing your mother?" she asked, her tone light but probing. "Or is there something else?"

  Malin's mind raced. He couldn't tell her the truth—not yet. Not about the pendant, not about his father, and certainly not about the curse that now loomed over them. Instead, he reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers. "How about we take a detour?" he suggested, his voice brightening with false enthusiasm. "There are some incredible places I've always wanted to show you. And I'd love to bring my mother gifts from all over—something special to make up for all the years I've been away."

  Tseria raised an eyebrow, her lips curving into a playful smile. "A detour, huh? You're not just trying to delay the inevitable, are you?"

  Malin chuckled, though it felt hollow. "Maybe a little," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "But wouldn't it be nice? Just the two of us, exploring new places, picking out the perfect gifts... It'll be an adventure."

  Tseria studied him for a moment longer, her gaze searching. Then she sighed, her smile widening. "Alright, Captain," she said, her tone teasing. "A detour it is. But don't think I'll let you off the hook forever. You'll have to face your mother eventually."

  Malin's smile faltered for a split second before he recovered, squeezing her hand. "I know," he said softly. "But for now, let's enjoy the journey."

  As Tseria leaned in to kiss him, Malin's mind wandered to the pendant hidden beneath his shirt, its dark presence a constant reminder of the choice he would eventually have to make. For now, he would cling to this moment—to her warmth, her laughter, her unwavering belief in him. But deep down, he knew the truth: the closer they got to his mother, the harder it would be to keep the darkness at bay.